“Distant Shore” by Harry Kappen Is a Powerful Tribute to Hope and Survival
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Moving to a brand-new country is always a massive headache, I mean we all suffer from this headache. Just imagine, having to pack up your entire life, deal with endless paperwork, and figure out where to get a decent cup of coffee. But I’ve got a story here, Dutch artist Harry Kappen recently packed his bags and moved all the way from the Netherlands to Mexico City. But he did something different from all of us, instead of just complaining about the jet lag, he went ahead and recorded a fantastic new ten-song album called “After the Crossing.” I mean we all would love to talk about stuffs when we move to a new city.
But do you know the best part? Harry played every single instrument, sang every note, and produced the entire record all by himself. Now back in the Netherlands, he played in a ton of rock bands and even made music for Dutch television and radio. Later on, he went to school to study music therapy. Now to connect with his diverse clients, he forced himself to become a multi-instrumentalist.
His deep empathy really shines through on his brand-new single, “Distant Shore.” I know you might be wondering the inspiration behind the track, well when Harry packed up his life to move to Mexico, it was a totally voluntary, exciting choice. But as he watched endless news reports about global refugees crossing land and sea under completely brutal, inhumane conditions, it gave him a major reality check. Like not everyone got it the way he had it, people go through a lot just to get greener pastures somewhere.
So when he thought about it, he realized his own big move was small potatoes compared to families fleeing war, poverty, and violence. He wrote this song out of sheer respect for the unbelievable courage these people show just to give their kids a safer future. The thing is sometimes we don’t even realize the dangers involved, but we just wanna build a future far away from wars, poverty and survival for our kids and out of that, we don’t care the harsh realities we have to face just to give the kids that future.
I must say it, this looks like one of the best pieces out there. I love how the song starts, it’s got this beautiful, haunting instrument called a mellotron. If that sound feels a bit familiar to you, that is completely on purpose. Harry is a massive fan of David Bowie, and the arrangement on this track was heavily inspired by Bowie’s classic hit “Space Oddity.” Since Bowie passed away exactly ten years ago, the song doubles as a wonderful, loving tribute to one of his biggest musical heroes.
The music builds a deeply atmospheric, spacey rock vibe that perfectly matches the heavy subject matter. As the song moves, you can hear how heavy Harry’s vocals feels, the weight of the storytelling in his voice and what I love about it is, instead of sounding preachy or political, the track feels like a very intimate, human meditation on survival and hope.
As the track moves along, the layers of instruments grow, capturing both the scary physical danger of a rough sea crossing and the emotional uncertainty of leaving your home behind. Just imagine it, leaving your home with hope being the only instrument to battle everything out. The track manages to be quiet and subdued in some moments, then highly expressive and powerful the next. It does not offer any cheap answers, it just forces you to stop and think.
Harry Kappen is already getting a ton of international love for his songwriting, including winning an Elite Music Award for Songwriter of the Year and a Favorite Impact Artist award. See I do get it if you really tired all those shallow pop songs, so if you need something with pure emotions and a real heart behind every lyric, that has a cool retro rock vibe, you need to put “Distant Shore” on repeat!
Enjoy More From Harry Kappen here;
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